[Stock-almost] Launch Umbilical Tower

[matgg]

Hey all! I'm pretty new to the forums, but I've been lurking and playing ksp since 0.18. I thought I would share my favourite design so far, somehting I couldnt find in the forums or the space port.

I had planned a mission to take one kerbal to the mun, to place a custom flag on the landing site of my very first Challenger 11 Mun landing from 0.19. However, I also wanted to mark Jeb's landing site in the Challenger 12 mission with a different custom flag, so then I had a problem. I knew you could pick up another flag, so I placed a flag from another craft near the launch pad, so that I could go pick it up before the mission and carry two flags to the mun. Of course, it didn't work, as it appears your flags are reset if you enter a capsule. However, this challenge forced me to think about how I could get Jeb out of his capsule, and onto the ground to pick up the flag, and then return to his capsule on top of a huge rocket. So, I have created the Kerbal Launch Umbilical Tower:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6oniuvmapkow3z3/RYd2ElHfxI (Pictures)

It worked surprisingly well, and more than anything else just looked awesome as it fell away from the craft. The sub-assembly is here if anyone is interested:

http://www.filedropper.com/umbilicaltower2

It is all stock, but I have added the mechjeb and flight engineer console just because they look cool on the tower, so if you are playing stock only it should still work. The chairs are there because it is impossible to get a kerbal over the top of the ladder, so once you get to the top, you can click board on the seat, and then exit it to get on the platform. It is modifiable to most rockets by changing the amount of I-beams connected to the decoupler, and then extending the platfrom with the panels accordingly.

Edited June 14, 2013 by matgg

[hoodedarche0]

Possibly any photos for us as I don't like to download without pictures as it may or may not fit my plans for my space program.

[matgg]

The dropbox link is an album, I tried linking the images directly but it didn't work for some reason.

[AmpsterMan]

That's a nice tower their! Congrats!